Austin Meek: KU's 'Breakfast Club' ends in disdain

There was grunting, and some occasional cursing. (And that was just us in the parking lot.) People ran into each other. Stretching occurred.

The meat of the practice was devoted to special teams drills — kickoffs, punt returns, field goals. Not really the ingredients of a compelling narrative, but the wedges looked good, I guess.

Really, what else can you say? It’s April, and the team finished 2-10 last season. New coach Charlie Weis seems to be doing the right things, but no one will know with any certainty until the Jayhawks line up against TCU in September.

If there was a salient moment, it came near the end of Thursday’s practice, just as the sun was starting to creep up behind the bleachers. Kicker Ron Doherty lined up to simulate a game-winning field goal, nothing but the goalposts in front of him. Weis, who watched much of the practice from a golf cart at the 50-yard line, walked to where the ball was spotted at the 27. The entire team stopped to watch.

After a simulated timeout to ice the kicker, Doherty booted his first attempt. It hooked wide left.

He tried again, and this time the ball squeezed inside the uprights, sending players spilling onto the field in celebration. They mobbed Doherty, hip-bumping and spraying water in the air.

Weis was disgusted. He ordered the team back to the sideline and, for the first time that morning, raised his voice. Not everything was audible, but one phrase seemed to convey the general message.

“That,” Weis barked, “was a pile of crap.”

The Jayhawks didn’t celebrate with enough gusto, and hey, can you blame them? It’s not like they’ve had much practice.

The next time Doherty connected on a kick, the celebration was more suitable. When Doherty finally emerged from the bottom of the pile, he was moving like he’d just served as a seat cushion for an offensive tackle.

That moment, even if scripted for our benefit, hinted at the biggest challenge Weis faces at KU. He inherited a team that has no idea how to win, and beyond plugging roster holes, his job is to change the losing culture KU developed while dropping 23 of its last 24 Big 12 games.

The culture and the roster go hand-in-hand, of course, and Weis has made obvious headway in upgrading KU’s talent. Quarterback Dayne Crist would look like KU’s best linebacker if not for the red jersey and the tight spirals.

The Notre Dame post-grad pipeline has produced other potential contributors, too, with more help on the way.

The Jayhawks still have holes to fill, especially on the defensive line, where they don’t even have the bodies to field a full two-deep for the spring game. If nothing else, though, KU should be more disciplined and better conditioned with Weis in charge.

What will that mean for KU in the fall? Beats me. It’s only April, and I’m getting sleepy from the early wakeup call.

I do know this: If the Jayhawks figure out how to win, celebrating won’t be a problem.